avoid severe challenges to america's interests and values is to be strong enough to dissuade or deter our enemies from thinking about it. >> sean: ambassador, as always, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> sean: that's all the time we have left this evening. let not your heart be troubled. greta is next "on the record." see you tomorrow night. >> greta: tonight president obama, if he isn't nervous, well, he should be, governor romney just left him in the dust. a brand-new pew poll shows romney ahead by four hints, poi. even democrats are given governor romney high ratings. to top it off on "saturday night live," snl skewered president obama. that was last week. now the new polls. >> less than one month to go,

and mitt romney is making up serious ground against the president. bpew research has the governor with an advantage over the president among likely voters. >> romney won. he looked presidential. he had confidence. >> there's no comparison, competent, confident leadership versus really rank, amateur, clicheed liberalism. >> every time they run a truly vicious ad, then you see romney in a debate, he's not the person they ran the ad about. >> nearly 70 million americans saw the real mitt romney, not what they see in 30-second attack ads. >> the debate was a reset of this campaign. >> 80 million people finally got an unfiltered look at mitt romney and liked what they saw. >> this race fundamentally changed wednesday night in ohio. i think it did across the country. >> you saw inspiration, heart, preparedness from mitt romney. and you saw a president that came in unprepared, uninspiring. >> i don't think the president

was really mentally prepared to take on governor romney. >> we'll start with you. how do you think the president did? >> well, i think he did bad. you see, obama was poisoned by the altitude. >> oh, boy, this altitude is starting to get to me. >> what is this? 10 miles above sea level? >> he looked tired, had trouble getting his answers out. looked like he took my million and spent it all on weed. >> these liberals in hollywood got what they thought, and everybody on his team is discombobulated. >> mitt romney energized not just his supporters, republicans and conservatives across the country, but even his own campaign. >> well, i think he's been consistent personally. i mean, i think he's been consistent. i think he's been solid. i think he's been very smart. >> unfortunately this president's policies have not been equal to our best examples of world leadership, and nowhere is this more evident than in the middle east.

>> you listen to this romney speech on foreign policy, it is such a refreshing thing. finally somebody who talks about america's role in the world in a positive way. >> greta: and now governor romney out in front after pounding president obama in the debate. governor romney taking the lead in the polls in the latest pew polls governor romney leading president obama 49% to 45%. now last month he trailed by eight points. so can governor romney keep the momentum going or is he just on a political roller coaster? former senator fred thompson joins us. good evening, sir. >> good evening. >> greta: the republicans are dancing right now, but i wouldn't measure the drapes yet. >> no, no. still got a lot of campaign to go. but i think that for the first time people got a chance to see mitt romney and a little closer look at barack obama. you know, he hasn't been in that setting in a long time. i wasn't really surprised either case. nobody's ever accused romney of -- i mean obama of being a great debater.

his only eloquence is off the teleprompter, in which he's very good at delivering a set piece, but not in that format. romney, on the other hand, has gotten better and better over several years, and down in florida is a good example of what he did, you know. he's been called everything and faced with every kind of issue imaginable. you know, he's a good debater. so he was on top of his game, and obama just, you know, kind of phoned it in, thought that was all that was necessary. >> calling it winning or losing, making it into a scoring event, and it truly is not. i'm curious, is it that governor romney did such a good job or that president obama was so off his game and lost? or is it substance? >> well, i've always thought that romney was somewhat in a position that ronald reagan was back in 1980, that people were looking for a change. carter had faced all of these difficulties, you know, the

iranian hostage, double-digit misery index, in many respects worse situation than obama faces politically, but yet they were neck and neck going in. the people were looking for a reason to change. it was this irresponsible cowboy that the media had painted, really did he really qualify as a serious presidential candidate, and people saw him and decided that he did. i think to a certain extent that dynamic is playing out here. >> greta: one of the things that i thought hurt governor romney in these polls -- i mean, the polls were actually spectacular for governor romney in every way, except for a couple that caught my attention. one of them was that by 69 points to 7, a huge amount, swing voters say that president obama is the candidate who connects with ordinary americans. wing voters also prefer president obama on healthcare, medicare and foreign policy. not by those huge margins, but

that whole bit about connecting with ordinary americans. >> beats me, greta. must be ordinary americans who have jobs. >> greta: maybe that is it. >> i don't know what that means. the other question is, what do you want in a president? do you want a president who will lead us boldly into this century and protect us and put in policies that will bring about prosperity and protect freedom and the constitution or do you want a president who feels my needs, you know, whatever they may be, more? i don't know. i guess we'll see. >> greta: is the fact that there's early voting going on, do you see that as an advantage now to governor romney, at least this week, because he's riding high this week? >> well, yeah. but i think it's probably an overall advantage for the democrats. the power of the incumbency, the money of the incumbency. obama apparently raised

$180 million last month. now, i'm sure all these campaign reform liberals are going to be up in arms about that, right? >> greta: i'm up in arms about the fact that both parties will raise about a billion dollars, and taxpayers still have to foot the bill, a large bill at their conventions. they could have paid for those themselves. >> as usual, you're right. >> greta: you can come back. >> all of that, they're pouring in to a handful of swing states. and, you know, they've got their organization, they're buying the organization as they go along. of course, you know, they have self-motivated people, but not as many -- not nearly as many as last time, so they have to purchase more support they have in the past, getting the vote out, that sort of thing. and they can start on day one of early voting, get the buses cranked up, those people together, and their voters out. you know, that's just the

on-the-ground political game. that works to the democrats' benefit overall. >> greta: what do you make of the fact that president obama made $180 million last month for his campaign, out campaigning now, up and down the state of california, thi. if you had a bad appearance last week, the numbers were falling, you don't seem to need the money, why are you, like, campaigning instead of fundraising? >> well, if the media would allow me to get away with it, i'd keep pouring it on just like he's doing. i mean, when he can go out to las vegas the day after this tragedy -- or people were murdered because our government didn't protect them in libya, if he can spend all that time on the golf course, if he can get his national security briefings, you know, off and on, you know, usually in written form, you know, when you can't have any good give-and-take with the intelligence officer, if you can do all of that and get away with

it, why not? all they've got is -- all they've got is the power of the incumbency and the money. they're doubling down on all of it. now they've got a new tactic, after calling romney a liar for four months, they've got a new tactic. call him a really, really bad liar. it takes a lot of money to put out those false ads. that's the name of the game. they're getting away with it. but, you know, fortunately in a democracy the media doesn't have the final word. >> greta: we'll show a videotape later on with david axelrod where he may have gotten caught with calling him a liar. he may be squirming a little. >> if that was romney, i'd look across the table, all your people are calling me a liar, are you calling me a liar? >> greta: maybe he will. thank you, sir. today governor romney turning his campaign spotlight to foreign policy. he blasted president obama, accusing the president of failing to do his job as commander in chief.

>> when we look at the middle east today, with iran closer than ever to nuclear weapons capability, with the conflict in syria threatening to destabilize the region, and with violent extremists on the march, with an american ambassador and three others dead, likely at the hands of al-qaeda affiliates, it's clear that the risk of conflict in the region is higher now than when the president took office. i know the president hopes for a safer, freer and more prosperous middle east allied with us. i share this hope. but hope is not a strategy. >> greta: former state department official liz cheney joins us. good evening, liz. >> hi, greta. good to be with you. >> greta: what do you think governor romney was seeking to achieve today, andde? >> a couple of things. first off, point out the very fundamental differences between his approach to leadership and national security and president obama's. if you look at just the issue of american leadership, which was the common thread throughout the entire speech, talking about how important it's been in the past,

how important it's going to be in the future, what it means to lead as an american commander in chief, and contrasting that with what we've seen from this president, a real timidity, weakness, policy of retreat around the world, and a policy as you just showed that's left us weaker after nearly four years of president obama. >> greta: what do you think is the harshest thing he said about president obama's foreign policy? >> well, i think, you know, hope is not a strategy is -- i'm not sure i would say it's harsh. i think it's sad. i think it's too bad we've gotten to that point. i thought one of the most interesting lines in the speech, he said it's not just the character of our country -- talking about what makes us exceptional -- but it's the record of our accomplishments. he then went on to say that's a record that's been written by patriots of both parties, that it's not a partisan issue, but if you compare that to what president obama said, for example, back in the spring of 2009, when daniel ortega just attacked the united states while president obama was sitting in

his presence, slandered us, and the president stood up and said i'm happy that ortega didn't blame me for things when i was three months old. this view of america as having been the single most effective force in history, why we have to continue to lead, compared and contrasted with the obama vision, which we're seeing the results now across the middle east. >> greta: he spent a good time talking about israel, saying that there would be no daylight between the united states and israel if he were president. you know, it seems to me that whole sort of israel dynamic. i pulled up the transcript going back to last november in which then president sarkozy was quoted as saying, got caught on a hot mike, netanyahu, i can't stand him, he's a liar. then president obama says, you're sick of him? i have to work with heife with y day. then he didn't see him when he spoke to the general assembly at

the united nations. then today making a lot of emphasis on our relationship with israel. i thought that was designed to make sure he gets the vote here. >> it's a critical part of our national security policy. there's a reason why israel is one of our most important allies in the world. there's a reason why we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with israel. we share a whole range of common values and beliefs. we have to make sure that we're standing with them and that they're not alone as they, you know, face threats from countries like iran, for example. so i think governor romney was making clear both here, you know, in terms of the domestic audience, and also internationally with respect to the iranians, there's no question we won't allow them to develop nuclear capability and we'll stand by israel to act together. >> greta: he accused president obama about making a political decision about afghanistan, where we've lost over 2,000 troops there, many have come

home and died from injuries. i thought that was where he was really the harshest on the president, saying essentially your plan is a political plan. >> the facts bear out what governor romney said. when president obama ordered the surge his commanders on the ground, first of all, asked for more troops, but then they said we need two full fighting seasons. we need to make sure we've completely dismantled the taliban, they can't come. that requires two full fighting seasons. the president came back and said, i won't give you as many troops as you need, but i'll stop the surge, pull the troops out before the second fighting season is done. there's simply no military reason why you would do that, if you're going to surge our forces, prevent afghanistan from becoming a safe haven again, then you let the troops fight the amount of time the commanders said they need to fight. >> greta: as much as we have these political knockdown drag-out fights in this country, accusing the president of the united states of making a political decision is farther than i've seen anyone else go.

i mean, do you believe it? do you think that president obama's strategy was purely for himself, purely selfish, purely political? >> absolutely. when you don't allow them to fighting through the second full fighting season. the commanders say that, and you say i'm bringing out them in september of an election year. september of an election year with no military purpose whatsoever for making that decision, i think that what's happening, you know, whether or not the president's motives were political -- i happen to think they were -- what's clearly happening is we run the risk, as the governor said today, leaving behind a afghanistan where the terrorists can once again gain the foothold they used to attack us on 9/11. >> greta: i think we get rolled all the time when it comes to money by the government, but when it comes to war i'm still a believer that people may have different opinions on how to wage them, what to do, but that it's not done selfishly, but

maybe i'm incredibly naive. >> i think you're incredibly naive. i think it was political. >> greta: could be. liz, thank you. straight ahead, what does the obama administration hiding? mounting evidence they knew libya was a terror attack right away. so what's with all these cover stories? something really is not right. congressman jason chaffetz here is next. and an illinois woman firing back at the obama campaign. he's here to tell you all about he's here to tell you all about it. go! here it comes! right in the numbers. boom! get it! spin! oh nice hands! now this is my favorite play! oh! [ male announcer ] share what you love, with who you love. kellogg's frosted flakes. they're grrreat!

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>> greta: why didn't the obama administration just tell us the truth? they knew within 24 hours that the libya attack and four murders of americans, including our ambassador, was tied to terrorists. not to a youtube video. that was the cover story. well, congress is now investigating, and republican congressman jason chaffetz just got back from libya and joins us. nice to see you. >> thanks, greta. >> greta: your thoughts about being in libya? >> i left with the impression that politics was driving the security decisions rather than security dictating what security should be. they wanted a narrative that they were moving toward normalization, the appearance of normalization as swiftly as possible, but that unfortunately

i think led to the idea that we didn't have the security to protect our assets in libya. >> greta: there's another part of it, part of your investigation coming in your hearing this week, and this is in a bill gertz article, quoted an unnamed official, that the obama administration is afraid to admit that al-qaeda is running rampant throughout the region because it would expose the truth instead of what president obama so pompously spouted during the democratic convention, said the official, is the quote from the article. i thought this -- is there any possible truth to this? >> i wouldn't disagree with that at all. i mean, i left with the impression that they were driven to try to create this appearance of normalization. you got to remember -- >> greta: what are they hiding, though? >> the idea that there are bad guys out there that want to kill us, and we didn't let security

dictate security. banghazi, you go to tripoli, about two hours to the east is banghazi. twice in the six-month leadup to this attack and deaths of the four americans, twice the british ambassador had an assassination attempt and twice our facility in banghazi was mommed. no other place on the planet had that happen. >> greta: it can be gross incompetence which has cost the life of four people, meaning there were a lot of warning signs and they ignored it, or it could be that they have -- they were trying to cover up a failed middle east policy with terrorism growing, and that there's some defeatful and -- deceitful and some other reason. >> i met with a host of people. never once, not one time, did a single person actually mention a video, a riot, or something like that. that's the administration has been telling the american people

and the world that this was a result of a video gone awry. never once did anybody on the ground ever mention that was a factor. >> greta: you've got susan rice, the ambassador to the united nations, jay carney, white house press secretary, former member of the media, also repeating that false story. the administration did everything it could to connect the video. there's got to be a reason, if they knew within 24 hours that this was terrorism, probably related to al-qaeda, were they pushing this ridiculous video story to the american people and honing it would stick? >> the american people are going have to come to their own conclusion. i can tell you that the security personnel on the ground were asking for more personnel to protect them. not only did they not get that, they got a reduction in the american personnel. >> greta: that they did a lousy job. >> yeah, right. >> greta: we've got four dead people. i'll concede that, either through incompetence or horrible luck. they did a louseey job. the thing can't get off, this

business about the videotape, why if they knew it was terrorism, why did they keep pushing the videotape for days? there had to be a reason because it's so patently ridiculous. >> the idea that this is a video gone awry is somewhere between patently false and an outright lie. >> greta: but why? >> i don't know, because i don't think it fit their narrative. i don't think it fit their narrative that everything was fine, if we just be good neighbors, if we're just nice to everybody, they'll like us. look, al-qaeda is still very active in the region. as you said, we have to deal with that reality. like i said, the security personnel wanted more personnel, wanted more fortification of the buildings. that was denied. >> greta: if you read the bill gertz thesis, it's it was done to hide the fact that the moose policy has failed, that al-qaeda is growing, it's now up against an election, and the whole thing was hoping to put a lid on.

that's what i agreed from the article. >> i wouldn't disagree. they asked for more personnel, asked for fortification of the buildings. denied. in fact, there was a reduction in personnel. we had two bombings preceding the one on 9/11. we had two attacks on the ambassador from britain. and still we walk into 9/11 thinking that there was no actionable intelligence. are you kidding me? >> greta: that's a whole other story, is the quality of our intelligence gathering. that's another night. anyway, thank you. >> thanks, greta. >> greta: coming up, an illinois woman is outraged, saying she's being used by the obama campaign and they never asked her permission. it all started when they asked congressman paul ryan a question. that's next. and fox's bill o'reilly versus comedy central's jon stewart. you have to see it to believe it. it. and you will straight ahead. [ male announcer ] how do you measure happiness? by the armful? by the barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy,

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[ children laughing ] right now, she just dreams of an office. get a free trial at constantcontact.com. >> greta: an illinois woman is fighting back. linda morrison says the president obama campaign has done her wrong. she says the campaign twisted her words and then used them unfairly against congressman paul ryan. now all this started at a romney/ryan campaign rally when morrison asked the vice-presidential candidate a question. >> okay, she's got a green bay packers shirt. i have to pick on her. i apologize. >> hi. my question is, you know, keep

talking about china and jobs and then we talk about the unemployment, but where are the answers in i mean, why aren't you more specific? i heard you -- was it sunday when you were on fox, and you didn't answer his question about how we're going to -- you know, what are your plans. >> oh, yeah. no, look, when you >> oh, yeah, when you get into a math conversation, it can take a little while. let me give you some specific answers right now. >> soon after that, an obama campaign spokesperson emailed reporters, writing this... campt being called out for failing to provide specifics about what mitt romney would do if elected. linda morrison joins us. nice to talk to you, linda. >> nice to talk to you, greta. thanks for having me on. >> greta: i'm curious, did you get a specific answer from congressman paul ryan?

>> i did. all you have to do, if you went online and listened, he told me specifically he had five points that he made, and he really elaborated on the points. he didn't just say like number one, number two, it took him about eight minutes tonswe a me, and i was really pleased with his answer, because i thought to myself if there's any spin, i am going to stop him and say, just answer the question. he didn't. everybody afterwards, you could tell by the reaction of the crowd, everybody liked his answers. afterwards i had about four people come up to and say, "what a great question." >> greta: then there came a point when a member of the obama campaign sent out an email to everybody. how did you hear about that? >> i came to work, had been out of the office for a little bit, and my boss had come in, he met me outside kind of laughing, and he said i was in the "quad city

times," and he said, you called out ryan? i said, what are you talking about? he says, it's here in the paper, the question you asked, you called out ryan. out there in the parking lot, we had a meeting. there was, like, four of us standing around outside. the more i thought about the more angrier i caught. i know what i asked. there was no way i was calling him out. all i did was ask a question so many people wanted to hear and we got a great answer. >> greta: have you heard from president obama's campaign, saying we're sorry we did that, we didn't tell the complete story, we'll send out an email correcting it to the same number of people we sent the first email out to? >> i've not heard one word from the obama campaign, no. >> greta: why do you think the obama campaign did that, that they were careless, in their rush to get it out, or do you think they were deliberately trying to make congressman paul ryan back? >> i would agree with the second

statement, that they were trying to make him look bad. i've never attended a rally. you know, i asked the question -- i think they thought that they were going to -- you know, maybe thought small town, small community, nobody was pick up on us doing this spin. i really thought that they thought that they could pull one over on the american people, but i was paying attention. i wasn't going to let them get away with it. i'm tired of all the spin. i decided to call them -- i decided to call the obama campaign out. >> greta: and indeed you have. one last question, because i'm from the state of wisconsin. why where you wearing a packer jacket? >> my dad was from wisconsin, and my mom was from chicago. so i've always had, you know, split parents, and i had the green bay packer jacket. i'm, like, if i'm going to a rally, i thought maybe he would give me a thumbs-up, which he did. i had no idea he was going to even have any -- you know, we were going to be able to ask any

questions. i thought, you know, maybe he'll wave at me. like i said, it was my first rally, i was pretty excited. he did more. he asked the question. what a great experience, i thought. >> greta: indeed that, now everyone knows your whole story. linda, thank you very much. >> hey, thanks for having me. >> greta: coming up, was the obama campaign's david axelrod squirming in was his answer awkward or hypocritical? you'll hear it. and crie christ christy and boby two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. d bp's also committed to america.

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>> greta: chris christie and bobby jindal, both republican governors, tapped to take on new roles. they're not running for the white house, not yet, but they'll take the reins of the republicans governors association. governor jindal will lead the committee in 2013 and >> why is it such a big deal to ltd. national group? it's a great way to prepare for national fund-raising for future presidential campaigns. both governors mitt romney and rick periheaded up their groups. bobby jindal and chris christie are both g.o.p. stars and are likely presidentiality contenders. is this a sign of their future ambitions? go to gretawire and tell us. we are back in 90 seconds. to gl with the spark cash card from capital one,

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is $4.67, the highest in the nation. supply problems raising california price, 50 cents in the past week. the governor ordering the early production of a winter blend of gasoline to bring those prices down. that's not expected to happen for several days. the first privately-runned supply mission to the international space station is expected to arrive on wednesday. this is how it looked when the space "x" dragon capsule launched in may. it was bring egg half ton of supplies to the three-member crew. nas's contracted with space "x" to handle 12 supply missions. i'm ainsley earhardt. now back to "on the record" with gret a. thanks for watching fox. n

infected across nine states. eight have died. the manufacturer pulling its products off the market. now back to greta. >> greta: okay. we need some viewer help on this one. help us understand david axelrod's logic on this one. when his candidate, president obama, breaks two of his 2008 campaign promises, axelrod says that's not a lie. when governor romney in 2012 makes a campaign promise about taxes, the obama campaign calls governor romney a liar. why is one guy's campaign promises now broken? not a lie, the other guy's campaign promises a lie. how can that be? here's david axelrod on cbs's "face the nation." are you saying that governor romney died or was dishonest? >> dishonest, absolutely. when he said he never proposed $5 trillion in tax cuts, that was dishonest. >> when senator obama said in 2008, i'm going to cut the deficit in half, close gitmo, people said that was unrealistic, but didn't say he wasn't telling the truth. there's a difference, isn't there? >> no. closing gitmo involved an act of congress, and he wasn't able to get congress to agree with him

on that question. this is basic math. >> greta: joining us our political panel, abc news senior washington editor rick klein, casey huntington, and byron york. rick, first you. i thought it was executive order to close gitmo, just needed congress to place the people. am i right? >> they realized it was going to be harder than they wanted. the distinction he's making is in terms of campaign pledgrs oche it's a stretch, obviously -- >> a stretch! it's name calling. >> there is a lots of that going on. one thing i am struck by, you have seen a shift from the obama campaign, in terps of how they are trying to discuss mitt romney. for a long time, they tried to describe him as a conservative extremist, not a flip-flopper not as a liar. we have seen that change. there has been a major strategic shift to try to paint him as someone you can't trust, rather than someone whose views are out of the mainstream. >> you saw beforehand, before this debate, when both campaigns were carefully managing expectations. you heard romney say, one thing

i am expecting is for obama to get up there and be dishonest. that's one way to go out, when you feel you haven't done as well as you should have, possibly and undermine your opponent who, has come off what is basically an unqualified success. >> a lot of this is intent. i think barack obama did intend to close down guantanamo. as a matter of fact, i think congress stopped him by forbidding the use of any appropriated funds for moving anybody out of guantanamo. so i think -- >> well -- >> he intended to do it. >> the other one was to cut the deficit in half. >> in my opinion, he has not shown any inclination that he wanted to do that. smarz romney, the man behind this $5 trillion story has said that the obama campaign is misusing his study. so i think that romney fulling intends to do what he says he is going to do. he may not succeed. but he intends to do it. >> i have an associated press

source here that says that, basically, it backs up governor romney, that it wasn't a lie. you know, the obama campaign is coming at him. but i am curious, though, i guess if i were representing a candidate, i would show where the person has bad policy, i wouldn't say he's a liar and make names. that's where we have come to now, with the obama campaign, at least, this week. >> i think right now, they are trying to say you can't trust what this guy is saying -- >> they are saying he's a liar. >> that's part of the same piece. the $5 trillion is widely discredited as a price tag. you can make the argument that the loopholes won't get you the $5 trillion, but there is no scenario, in which this is a tax cut of $5 trillion by itself. >> go at it that way. they don't go at it with the facts. instead they go on national tv and insult the opponent. >> the use of the word lie only

makes the base happy. it doesn't do for anything with the people in the middle. >> remember the bush years -- bush lied, people died. that's what you do when you are trying to shore up your base support. >> obviously, you saw in that clip, david axelrod was pushed to go as far as to call him a liar and he wouldn't do it. he called him dishonest. >> but other representatives in the campaign have used the term liar. >> it's a line he wouldn't cross on the sunday show, which is telling, as far as recognizing it could turn off the voters in the middle. >> i think a lot of this name-calling is a reason that people get turned off in general t. can get very ugly, with things that get flown. people look for the sound bite that will work. this is a campaign trying to find a way to define mitt romney. >> if there is a lie, let's have at that time. but i don't like where you go on and slam the other guy because we will put ow tv to say it. we will take a quick break.

straight ahead, is the obama campaign turning a blind eye to illegal donations? the obama campaign says absolutely not. but some sources say yes. which is it? next. hahahaha! hooohooo, hahaha! this is awesome! folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. i'd say happier than a slinky on an escalator. get happy. get geico. melons!!! oh yeah!!

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>> the o a campaign has been accused by government accountsability institute. we are bark with our political -- back with our political panel. >> this is what you learn about after the election, when somebody make ace complaint to the fcc. this happened in 2008. the obama campaign has more small donors than anybody ever in history. a lot of people use credit cards to make donations on it is web. they are you should $200, the minimum you have to report the donation to the fec. they are not careful about where the do megs come from. they don't check to make sure. they are not in a foreign place. they use a more rigorous routine when you buy a t-shirt with a credit card from the web site than when you make a

contribution. >> all right. of course, i looked it up, it's a conservative group, making this allegation against president obama's campaign. worth noting, right? do you agree? >> absolutely. >> is there anything that the campaign needs to worry about? does the romney campaign need to worry? >> the romney campaign has said over and over, they are very careful about this. but they do some of this, too. i have been at fund-raisers oversea, they had a big one in london and one in hong kong, on behalf of the campaign that kevin mccarthy went to. they have to make sure that everyone who shows up has a u.s. passport. if you are living overseas and you are a american citizen, you can donate the maximum amount of a presidential campaign. but many or more of romney's donors are people writing big checks, whose names have to be include in the report. and that will trickle out over the course of the campaign. >> it's a potential loophole i. or loophole twould be -- >> it may be worse than that,

depending. we don't know that from this report or anything else. but it is left to the campaigns to police this. there have been people who have tried to make donations on their own, as private ebbettities toee if they get caught up. not all of them are caught, we know that. the point that byron makes about more checks, if you are purchasing campaign merchandise is a troubling sign. the potential for foreign and corporate donations and coerced donations of some sort, the fact that -- this doesn't get reported anywhere. there is no reporting necessary for these small-dollar donations, allows the possibility of that. what the intent is there and whether this amounts to a large problem, those are questions we don't have the answer. >> to any thoughts on the vice-presidential debate? >> you know... i think i have said this before. republicans are extremely confident that paul ryan can really clean bide by's clock. they should be cautious about. >> it the democrats were confident last time that president obamma was going to do l. i am always nervous when i

compete in anything. casey? >> it's clear at this point, that it could have a big impact, especially after last week, which has want always been the case with the vice-presidential debates. >> we will know whether the paul ryan pick was a good one. he will get his moment. joe biden has a lot more pressure, given the performance i. i think there is less pressure on him -- look what you did last week. i think there is less pressure. >> no, no. he thinks it's tebow time. a big performance from joe biden. he needs to step up. >> after mitt romney's huge victory in the first debate, if paul ryan were to win this debate twould create a huge feeling of momentum for them. >> panel, thank you. >> thank you. >> coming up, president obama and governor romney, move over, another high-profile debate is isn't -- is in the headlines. that's next. hey kev, how about a bike ride?

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yourself, bill o'reilly and jon stewart facing off. >> president first year, deficit. he held the deficit steady. how much debt has the president run up? >> $6 trillion. >> very good. $6 trillion. >> yes. and let me ask you this. what is... is that -- is that all bush's fault? >> no. what is the debt bush ran up? >> bush? okay. >> well, well... >> look. >> no. no. >> bush is gone. >> i'm not defending bush. >> bush is gone. this isn't a question of defending bush. >> sure sit. >> it's a question of putting our issues in context. contest isn't a proper. >> you're saying look. my guy ran up $6 trillion in debt. but what did bush do? come on. it's ridiculous.

it doesn't matter what bush did. the job of the president now is to get the debt under control and you've got to -- . >> exactly. >> i can see why obama did badly in the debate. the altitude really is rough up here in come redistribution. do you believe it? >> do you? >> i asked first. >> i believe... >> i believe in social security. do you believe in social security. >> yes. >> so we're both socialists? >> no. no. >> social security isn't redistribution? >> no. it's not. >> you pay into it but you don't pay into it what you get out of it. >> some people pay more. >> in a cumulative affect. >> no. no. no. >> if you're $125,000 you'd pay more than someone paying $5